


Cold Feet

by UndeadRobby



Category: The Adventure Zone (Podcast)
Genre: Candlenights, Candlenights Live in Tacoma, Canon-Typical Violence, Gen, Light Angst, T for Taako's Dirty Mouth, Taako loves his magic boy, playing fast and loose with the rules of magic in dnd 5e
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-05 02:20:10
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17910128
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/UndeadRobby/pseuds/UndeadRobby
Summary: When Merle summons Angus McDonald from Santa's bag, it takes all of Taako's self control not to smite him then and there, because how dare he bring his magic boy out, barefoot and in his pajamas, into this icy hellscape to bargain with a frost ogre?Taako takes care of his freezing magic boy after the events of the Candlenights live show in Tacoma.





	Cold Feet

**Author's Note:**

> I literally have no idea where this fits in timeline-wise. Taako still has the umbrastaff in this adventure, so it's before the finale, but it's gotta work in somewhere after the lunar interlude where Taako takes Angus under his wing for magic training, but there's not enough time between there to slot in another Candlenights, really, and it's not like it could happen the same night as Crystal Kingdom, so who knows. This adventure sits in a time bubble, I guess.
> 
> Taako loves his magic boy and no one can convince me otherwise. 
> 
> The title's unrelated it's just a terrible pun I guess

Santa and his two elves – well, one elf, one human fighter, dressed in the most ridiculous Santa’s Workshop getup you could imagine – stand before Jimmy, the young frost ogre, wracking their brains as to what sort of Candlenights gift they could give him to get themselves out of this mess. Taako doesn’t even know why they took this job, tired, and irritated, lounging upon Garyl, waiting for Merle to _just fucking pick something, he’s a kid, for fuck’s sake, give him some hot wheels or something,_ when Jimmy sniffles out something about being lonely.

And yeah, Taako gets that, kid’s been living it up alone in this glacier cave, so secluded even Santa Claus couldn’t get in to give him Candlenights gifts? Of course he’d be lonely. Give the kid a puppy. They’re not on the moon, the Director can’t stop them now.

Just as he turns to Merle, and opens his mouth to relay his idea, Merle shouts out, “Oh! I know!” and pops open the bag. And just as Taako’s thinking, well, what’s the worst that could happen, a little dark hand holding a magnifying glass pops out, and Taako’s heart drops into his stomach.

Merle takes hold of the little wrist, and helps Angus Mcdonald out of Santa’s bag, and Taako watches as his little magic boy stumbles out, barefooted, onto the ice, in nothing but a thin t-shirt and pajama pants, clinging to his magnifying glass like a lifeline, like it’ll help him figure out how the hell he got here. He’s shivering, and his teeth chatter, as he stutters out something about how cold it is.

Taako turns, and levels the iciest glare he can manage at Merle, but Merle’s not looking at him, he’s looking at Angus, as Magnus shrugs off his feathered cuirass, and wraps it around the kid’s shoulders, saying something quietly about sucking it up.

As much as Taako wants to turn all his powerful magicks onto Merle, because how _dare_ he bring _his,_ Taako’s, sweet magic boy out into this barren ice hellscape, in his fucking pajamas, Taako knows that if anyone can deduce their way out of this particular predicament, it’s Angus. Instead, he keeps quiet, as Merle gives Angus a nudge, and Jimmy says apprehensively to Angus, “do you wanna be my friend?”

Angus, to his credit, does not panic. He’s cold, and scared, and confused, certainly, but he takes a moment, and surveys his surroundings, taking account of the destruction in the room, the damage evident on his three friends, the frankly ridiculous outfits they’re in, and figures that it can’t make this any worse if he plays along, and he looks up at Jimmy, and stutters out a “yes.”

Magnus whispers something to Angus that Taako doesn’t quite catch, and Angus turns back to Jimmy, “excuse me, new friend, do you own a pen?” and oh, good, someone has some sense in this hell of an adventuring party, they can’t just leave Angus here with this ogre, they can just write to each other. But, apparently, Jimmy does not own a pen – to which Magnus excitedly notes that there’s plenty of quills available, and Taako takes another look around the room. Sure enough, there’s the Aarakocra they’ve defeated, and Jimmy takes the hint and plucks a feather from a nearby corpse, dipping it into their pooling blood. While Taako takes a second to reconsider whether he wants Angus around this guy, they exchange contact information, and Jimmy shouts triumphantly, shattering the glacier they’ve been buried under for most of this adventure.

They’re all standing out in the snow field, and it’s a beautiful sight, really, the snow falling gently now that the storm has eased up, with the moonlight glistening through the clouds, illuminating the snowflakes. Or it would be, if the windchill hadn’t suddenly dropped the temperature another five degrees, and _Angus is still standing out in this cold in his fucking pajamas._

“Hey, Ango, c’mere kid,” Taako begins, taking Angus’ hand, and swinging him up onto Garyl’s back in front of him, wrapping his arms around him, and pressing against his back. The kid’s freezing, and Taako knows he’s not the warmest guy around, but it’s gotta count for something, right? “Listen, Jimmy, was it? It’s been great and all, and now you’ve got your new friend Ango you can write to and all that, but the whole cold weather thing isn’t really great for little human kids in nothing but their pajamas, so we’re gonna roll out. You can expect a letter soon, though, don’t you worry about that.”

“Oh, um, well, okay,” Jimmy says, clearly a little saddened at his new friend being taken away so soon, but Taako couldn’t give a single fuck at this point. For all he’s concerned, they fixed this Candlenights fuck up, and they need to get Angus back someplace warm before he catches pneumonia. The kid’s _barefoot,_ for fuck’s sake, and he’s been standing in ice and snow for way too long now.

Angus is still shivering in Taako’s arms, leaning back against him, and he manages to stutter through his chattering teeth, “It was n-nice meeting you, J-Jimmy, sir-“ before Taako instructs Garyl to take off, and Garyl bounds off into the night. Merle and Magnus shout something after them, probably mad he’s left them behind, but Taako’s mad at them for dragging Angus into this in the first place, so he’s gonna let them find their own way back.

Angus draws his feet up, trying in vain to get his toes underneath him to keep them warm. Garyl, unfortunately, by virtue of being semi-spectral, isn’t exactly warm, either. Taako doesn’t want to wait for transport up to the Bureau, and instead figures he can get them over to New Phandolin sooner, and some kind stranger might let them in to help warm Angus up. He also doesn’t want Merle and Magnus to see him fretting over the kid. Taako holds tighter to his magic boy to keep him on top of Garyl, now that he’s not sitting properly astride their phantom steed.

“T-t-thank you, T-Taako, sir,” Angus says, and Taako shushes him. “No problemo, little man, just chillax for me, and we’ll get you warmed up, kay?”

“but, s-sir, why-“

“Ah, ah, hey, I said shush.”

Angus nods, and they continue along to town in relative silence, to the sound of Garyl’s hooves through the snow, and Angus’ chattering teeth.

They make it into town, and there’s the remnants of some Candlenights festivities in the town square, most of the residents having slipped into bed after word came through that the holiday was saved. Taako hops off Garyl, holding Angus in his arms, and Garyl dissipates as soon as Taako’s feet hit the ground. He makes his way to the embers of a recently put out bonfire, and points a finger at it, reigniting it with a quick spell. He realizes belatedly that this is probably the most physical he’s ever been with the kid, having held him close the whole ride here, and practically cradling him in his arms as he sits in front of the fire.

Angus doesn’t seem lucid enough to notice. He’s still shivering, his head resting against Taako’s shoulder lightly, and he seems to be dozing off. It’s late, Taako rationalizes, of course he’s tired, but he can’t shake the fear pooling in his stomach that it feels like the kid’s dying in his arms. He doesn’t really register the thought that he doesn’t know why he knows what that feels like, but he swallows down his anxiety and quietly transmutes – or transmogrifies, rather – a section of the blanket of snow across the ground into a real blanket, which he wraps Angus in tightly, before pressing the button on his bracer to call a transport.

He feels Angus relax in his arms, and has a brief moment of panic before realizing that he’s still breathing, and had just fallen asleep. Taako doesn’t have a lot of medical training, and he’s not entirely sure if it’s better to let him sleep or to wake him up in this situation, but settles for letting the kid rest as he waits for the Bureau transport to touch down, shuffling just slightly closer to the fire.

When his ride does finally touch down, Taako stands carefully, trying not to rouse Angus, and carries him into the pod. As he sits down, Angus in his lap, and the pod begins to rise back toward the moon base, he’s struck with the thought that Magnus and Merle have probably already gotten back, and are wondering why the hell he ran off instead of waiting with them for transport. And that when they do get back, they’ll see him carrying Angus.

Taako looks down at his sleeping magic boy, but he can’t find it in him to wake the kid up and make him walk by himself back to his own room on the base.

He can only wonder how the hell he went so soft, as he prepares himself to face the ribbing of his peers for caring about someone for once. 

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks so much for reading! I hope this hadn't been done before. 
> 
> I'm a mess of a writer and can't promise anything, but I'd like to write a sequel/second chapter where Taako takes care of Angus when he gets sick because of this, and is super salty towards Merle and Magnus about it. 
> 
> This wasn't beta'd, so be kind, but feedback is always appreciated! This is also my first TAZ fic!


End file.
